For San Francisco, Michael Mina’s RN74 was our choice. People may argue that there are some classic fine dining establishments in SF that should be the destination for that one special night, and some of them are on our Top 40 Restaurants in the U.S. list. But people already know about those places, while I think RN74 is somewhat of a hidden gem.

Chef Michael Mina, our 2011 Best Restaurateur in the U.S., along with his executive chef Jason Berthold, has composed a French brasserie menu with very strong California influences that can not really be any better for the genre. Watch my exclusive video interview with Berthold, and see pictures of the dishes from the menu below. Let us not forget the amazing wine list of over 3,000 bottles and the “train station” board that displays some of them.